The 2008 Flying Reindeer Forecast

Santa's reindeer will be hitting the skies tomorrow, and the official Weather Underground Flying Reindeer Forecast (FRF) calls for some tricky turbulence and tough sledding for Santa in some regions of the world. As Santa begins his adventure, temperatures will be a crisp -20 degrees at the North Pole Workshop. Foggy conditions will require Rudolph's red nose to light the way, since the light winds blowing simultaneously from the south and north at the Pole (think about that for a second, it's true!) will not be strong enough to disperse the fog. As Santa heads south through Siberia into China, he'll be riding a strong jet of polar air that could bring some tricky turbulence. Santa's sleigh will be heavily loaded at this point, and he'll have to negotiate the turbulent skies with great caution to avoid dumping any of his precious cargo. Fortunately, heavy snows cover much of China and eastern Asia, allowing smooth rooftop landings for the sleigh.

As Santa heads south to the Australian continent, the sledding gets much tougher. He'll have to dodge Tropical Cyclone Billy, along Australia's northwest coast. With hot summer temperatures prevailing across Australia, Santa's team will have to execute pinpoint rooftop landings to avoid showering sparks on the dry, fire-prone vegetation. As Santa heads west across Indonesia into southern Asia, he'll need to call upon the thunderstorm avoidance skills of his reindeer, Donner and Blitzen. These storm-savvy critters, named after the German words for thunder and lightning, are experts at sniffing out turbulence-free routes through seemingly impenetrable areas of thunderstorms.

Approaching Turkey, Santa will have to avoid the razor-sharp blue triangles of a cold front. Once through the front, though, he'll find ideal conditions over Turkey and Eastern Europe, where cold temperatures and snowy rooftops abound. However, the sledding quickly degrades over Western Europe, where only Scandinavia and the Alps can expect a white Christmas.

The Western Hemisphere portion of the Flying Reindeer Forecast calls for smooth flying over South America and the Caribbean. But the best conditions of Santa's entire journey await over the United States and Canada, where a series of major snow storms have left excellent rooftop snows. In the Northeast U.S., though, it'll be slow slogging for Santa, with heavy rains expected in an advance of a strong cold front expected to track through on Christmas Eve. The cold front will bring thunderstorms to the Southeast, and Donner and Blitzen will be called upon to safely guide Santa's sleigh through the front to the Southern U.S., where smooth sailing and clear skies will prevail. Excellent sledding awaits Santa in the Midwest and Northwest, where fresh snow from the latest in a series of significant winter storms will delight Santa's reindeer. However, significant rains over Southern California could make for some dangerous mudslide conditions. Santa may be forced to break into his stash to find boogie boards intended for California kids, to help him ride out the mudflows. Santa's final leg northwards across Alaska to the North Pole should be mostly uneventful, and we can expect that clear skies over the Pole upon Santa's return will make for a beautiful Christmas scene as Rudolph guides the sleigh to a perfect landing.

Quoting sandiquiz:As Dr masters Blog is about Reindeer I just thought this might be something for you to think about this Christmas :))

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year, male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November.

However female reindeer retain their antlers 'till after they give birth in the spring.

Therefore, according to EVERY historical rendition depicting Santa's reindeer in late December, the beloved reindeer, from Blitzen to Rudolph had to be GIRLS !

We should have known. ONLY WOMEN would be able to drag a fat man in a red velvet suit all around the world in one night and not get lost!!!

Sorry guys!! LOL

A very Happy Christmas to you all!!

In fact it proves that Santa's base is at the south pole. That's why he starts off with New Zealand because it's so close. The north pole address is just a decoy to stop too many visitors from disturbing his work through the year making all those toys.

Australian Government Bureau of MeteorologyNorthern TerritorySEVERE WEATHER WARNING5:00 am ACST December 24 2008

At 3:30 am CST, a TROPICAL LOW [1002 hPa] located over the southern Darwin-Daly District. it was near 15.3S 132.6E, or about 100 kilometres south southeast of Katherine, moving west southwest at 14 kilometres per hour. The low is expected to continue moving towards the west southwest and into the northern Victoria River District during today.

Damaging wind gusts up to 100 km/h with thunderstorms may occur in the westernRoper-McArthur, southern Darwin-Daly, including Katherine and the northernVictoria River Districts this morning before easing during the day.

Heavy rain currently falling over the Arnhem, western Roper-McArthur andsouthern Darwin-Daly Districts, including the Katherine region, is expected tocontinue today and extend further into the northern Victoria River Districtduring the morning, causing significant stream rises and flooding of low lyingareas. Rain will begin to ease from the east later today.

The Northern Territory Emergency Service advises that people should secure looseoutside objects and seek shelter when the conditions deteriorate. Drivingconditions may be hazardous - avoid flooded roads and watercourses.

At 3:00 am WDT, Tropical Cyclone Billy, Category One [986 hPa] located at 17.9S 120.3E or 205 kms west of Broome and 325 kms north-northeast of Port Hedland has 10 minute sustained winds of 45 knots with gusts of 65 knots. The cyclone is reported as moving west-southwest at 5 knots.

TC Billy is currently located west of Broome and is moving away from the Kimberley coast. In the next 24 hours the cyclone is expected to move in a generally westerly direction.

GALES with gusts to 100 kilometres per hour may develop between Bidyadanga and Whim Creek during Wednesday if Billy takes a more southwest track.

Tropical Cyclone Watches/Warnings=================================A Cyclone WARNING is current for coastal communities from Bidyadanga to Whim Creek.

A Cyclone WATCH is current for coastal areas from Whim Creek to Mardie.

Remarks:Billy was located by radar west of Broome moving steadily west southwest, although clearly undergoing trochoidal oscillation along the mean track. It is difficult to assign a DT number on most images. Intensity has been based on PAT of 3.0.

The system is showing renewed convection near the centre on satellite, and slightly improved structure near the centre on radar. As Billy is now moving away from the coast in a generally favourable environment it is expected that an intensification trend may become established during Wednesday. The small size of the system complicates intensity forecasting with the system likely to be responsive to subtle changes in the environment, and capable of intensifying and weakening rapidly.

Model guidance is consistent with a steady W'ly track then a W/NW track in the 24-72 hour timeframe, well off the Pilbara coast under the influence of a mid-level ridge to the south. However, motion is partially dependent on the erosion of the peripheral ridge by the system currently over the Top End, hence the risk of a Pilbara coastal impact can not yet be dismissed.

Just wanted to wish Happy Holidays to everyone. Not much to talk about weatherwise here. Winds are about 25-30 mph and raining right now but not hot which is great Temps in the upper 70's. Happy Holiday to all.

As Dr masters Blog is about Reindeer I just thought this might be something for you to think about this Christmas :))

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year, male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November.

However female reindeer retain their antlers 'till after they give birth in the spring.

Therefore, according to EVERY historical rendition depicting Santa's reindeer in late December, the beloved reindeer, from Blitzen to Rudolph had to be GIRLS !

We should have known. ONLY WOMEN would be able to drag a fat man in a red velvet suit all around the world in one night and not get lost!!!

I updated my Blog last nite if anyone would like to reveiw. I also completed the Christmas Song loop that some was wanting to play on Christmas Eve. I hope you all enjoy as my Wife helped me Alot with it. Merry Christmas Everyone.......Hitting the Mall for last minute stuff. Yeppieeee......Kids are all home from College and we are loving it.

12. Every year I tell myself that I"m going to get it done early...never happens. I think I am an adrenaline junkie or maybe a masochist. Problem here is we have one way in to where you need to go and one way out...so basically you sit in traffic forever before you can get to where you're going. At least people are being patient.